Hockey World: Marleau out of the Shark tank?

Jim Matheson, edmontonjournal.com04.28.2012

St. Louis Blues' center David Backes (42) is hit off the puck by San Jose Sharks' left wing Patrick Marleau (12) in the 2nd period during their NHL Western Conference quarter-final playoff hockey game in St. Louis, Missouri April 21, 2012.REUTERS/Sarah Conard

Martin Brodeur #30 of the New Jersey Devils and assistant coach Larry Robinson confer during the third period in the game against the Florida Panthers in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.Getty Images
/ edmontonjournal.com

Maybe it’s time. Good guy, good player, but don’t the Sharks need a change?

Marleau has been there the longest, a constant presence in many of their playoff crashes against the rocks.

I know the fans still voted him their favourite player in an online poll and I know general manager Doug Wilson has long been a Marleau loyalist, but the Sharks, who have several holes and a window of winning that looks like it has closed with this current cast, have to get younger. Whether that’s younger as in making a trade for Rick Nash, a guy who turns 28 in June, or they go much younger than that in another deal, they have to move an older piece and they aren’t moving Jumbo Joe Thornton.

If they do decide to deal Marleau, they’re late to this party. They should have arrived at this conclusion two or three years ago after they decided to take away the “C” and give it to Thornton.

Marleau will be a 1,000-point NHL player in two to three years, with a skill set to skate with Olympic teamers — he had five points in seven games for Canada in Vancouver in 2010 — but he is a support player. He is not a leader today. I’m not so sure he’s ever been a leader.

He’s a placid, even-keel, the-sun’s-always-gonna-come-up-the-next-day guy. Nothing wrong with that, but he’s now one of those players you wish gave more. He’s got it in him, but on a lot of nights he looks like a comfortable NHLer. In one place too long maybe.

He gets his points (830 in regular season; 88 in 129 playoff games), but is he going to take you places you’ve never been? Like a Stanley Cup parade?

He’s never played a minute in the minors, coming to the NHL a few months after the Sharks picked him second overall in 1997 behind Thornton, who went first to the Boston Bruins before he was traded to the Sharks for Brad Stuart, Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau.

He’s played 1,117 games, an inordinate amount of games for somebody who doesn’t turn 33 until Sept. 15. The ­fewest games he’s ever played in a season is 74, his rookie year. He’s durable, for sure. He’s also well-liked, good in the community, building a big house there.

But, they have to trade him now. The Sharks just went out with a whimper against the St. Louis Blues and Marleau had no points. He wasn’t hiding any injuries like Joe Pavelski (he had painkiller in a sore foot and thumb and knee ligament problems) or Logan Couture (he needs shoulder surgery).

His salary is an impediment, for sure, at $6.9 million a year for two more years, but how much of one? He’s not in the top 25 wage earners. Brad Richards made $12 million this year with the New York Rangers. The Lightning’s Vincent Lecavalier made $10 million in Tampa Bay, as did Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov in Philadelphia and Christian Ehrhoff with the Buffalo Sabres for comparison sake.

In terms of his salary-cap hit, he’s 19th, just ahead of Henrik Lund­qvist ($6.875 million) and Anze Kopitar ($6.8 million).

Like most guys, he has a no-trade clause. But if they go to him and say there’s a deal on the table, does he want to be where they don’t want him?

Where could Marleau end up? Well, if they want Nash, I’m sure they would try to include Marleau in a package for the Blue Jackets, but I’m not sure Columbus would go for that. They would want Pavelski, who is 28 in July, before Marleau.

The Montreal Canadiens need a No. 1 centre, so do the Toronto Maple Leafs, although they need a heck of a lot more. The Calgary Flames need one and the Winnipeg Jets could use him, too.

Toronto doesn’t have much cap space, though. The others do.

What would the Sharks want back? Cheaper, younger players. They have very little coming and they only have $8.7 million in cap space available.

Toronto has Nazem Kadri to play centre and Luke Schenn on defence. Montreal has kids in their organization: Nathan Beaulieu, Jarred Tinordi, Louis Leblanc, Michal Bournival, Brendan Gallagher. I don’t suppose the Habs would give back defenceman Josh Gorges.

San Jose GM Doug Wilson is a sharp cookie, but that was a deal he’d love back. In 2007 the Habs got Gorges and a first-round pick that became Max Pacioretty for Craig Rivet and a fifth-rounder, with the Sharks taking Jason Demers. Wilson didn’t keep Rivet long because he had to open up cap room for Dan Boyle and Rob Blake.

MacKinnon turning scouts’ heads

Where would Halifax Mooseheads centre Nathan MacKinnon go in this June’s draft if he were eligible?

“One game I saw this season, Nathan went down to block a shot and the shot hit him in the hand. You could see he was in a lot of pain, trying to shake it off, but he went down to block another one and it hit him in the same spot. Then, a little later, he switched hands on his stick to knock the puck away from a player. On the bench, I could see him waving off the trainer, but the next day, they found out his thumb was broken,” said MacGregor.

Doubting Thomas

Maybe I’m losing my marbles, but why would the Boston Bruins think of trading Tim Thomas when he’s only going to be making $3 million next year and Tuukka Rask isn’t the slam dunk as a No. 1 goalie as Cory Schneider is for the Vancouver Canucks.

What if Rask bombs next season and they have no fallback in Thomas, who might be 38 but still has some game left? Rask is 25 and he’s played 102 NHL games with a 47-35-11 record, 13 more in the playoffs (7-6, 2.61 avg.). It’s not like Rask, who has never played more than 45 games in an NHL season, and Thomas were splitting duties this season before Rask injured his groin.

The outspoken Thomas has ruffled some feathers in Boston and as they were opining Thursday, he was using the word “they” in reference to his teammates rather than “we” in quotes after Game 7. Maybe a slip of the tongue, maybe not.

Why not hold onto Thomas for one more year? What are they going to get in trade for a 38-year-old goalie anyway? The player the Bruins might consider moving is centre David Krejci, who had a mediocre playoff. They can move Tyler Seguin to centre as a tag-team with Patrice Bergeron with Nathan Horton out. Krejci could fetch them a top-four D-man or top-six winger.

Luongo on the go?

Predictably, the Edmonton Oilers can’t comment on any interest in acquiring Luongo — he still belongs to the Canucks — but I’m sure they’re kicking some tires. I can’t fathom the Oilers being on his short list of teams (same with Columbus), though, and even if they were, I can’t imagine the Canucks trading him to a rival where they would see him five or six times a season.

Here’s how the Luongo situation conceivably will shake out: he’ll have the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers on his list of teams he’ll play for and, in the end, it’ll come down to the Leafs versus the Hawks. I think the Leafs get him.

Florida has a hotshot Swedish goalie Jakub Markstrom coming, and they aren’t locking themselves into even six more years of his 12-year deal at $6.7-million salary per season. Tampa Bay already has Vincent Lecavalier on a deal that runs to 2020 ($10 million salary per year for four more seasons and $8.5 million in a fifth) and they might just target the younger, cheaper Jonathan Bernier (for one of their two first-round picks) or Pekka Rinne’s backup Anders Lindback instead. That is unless the Calgary Flames make Miikka Kiprusoff available for the last two years of his deal.

Brian Burke loathes those long-term deals, but job security is also important to him in Toronto. Luongo could get the Leafs into the playoffs next year and that’s added playoff revenue, not to mention merchandising, for his bosses.

Blackhawks president John McDonough likes making a splash, his club’s treading water out in the first round the past two years and they’ve got two guys — Corey Crawford and Ray Emery — trying to be No. 1. The question is whether Vancouver has to eat somebody’s contract (say Mike Komisarek) to move Luongo, they make a hockey trade (Luongo for, say, Luke Schenn) or they take virtually nothing back just to open up some cap room.

This ’n’ that

Detroit Red Wings’ Danny Cleary’s going to need some major work on his left knee this upcoming week after he had it constantly drained after he hurt it in November. As he said, there’s tears in there, loose cartilage, bone on bone. He limped for five months. He had the knee shot up with cortisone before every playoff game.

MacGregor got an eyeful of flashy U.S. defenceman Seth Jones at the world under-18s, and he could be playing in Portland next year after the Winterhawks traded a draft pick to get his rights from Everett. Jones should go in the top three in next June’s draft. “Tons of potential, very athletic,” said MacGregor. “Reminds me of Jay Bouwmeester a bit, with more edge. Jay plays a lot of minutes in the NHL, though. He takes a lot of abuse, for what?” Probably because he doesn’t put up 40 points a year in Calgary. The Anaheim Ducks could have Finnish defenceman Sami Vatanen on their back end next year. MacGregor gets a kick out of watching him. “He can really shoot. He’s a lot like Risto Siltanen. Remember him?” said MacGregor.

The riskiest free-agent signing is always a defensive-oriented D-man. Ask the New Jersey Devils how they feel today after giving Anton Volchenkov $25.5 million over six years when he left the Ottawa Senators? If they don’t give you any offensive juice and they start to lose their feet, then what? Always a banger, Volchenkov looks like the game’s too fast for him now. Ask the Pittsburgh Penguins if they they’ve got full value for Zbynek Michalek’s five-year, $20-million deal? He competes, but he scored two goals and had 13 points. Better yet, ask them how they like Paul Martin at $5 million (five years, $25 million). He came from New Jersey as a Dan Hamhuis-type, but he’s been a major disappointment there. He’s on the block, for sure, but would you pay $5 million for him? The Penguins will definitely be finding room next year for Robert Bortuzzo, a younger stay-at-home blue-liner from the Wilkes-Barre Penguins, and Simon Despres to take some puck-moving heat off Kris Letang.

Not sure if Tyler Seguin was asked if he’d play for Team Canada at the worlds but, if so, he probably begged off because he needs surgery on his left hand.

Best signing move Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon made last summer: Tomas Fleischmann. You don’t think the Colorado Avalanche are kicking themselves for letting him go because they were worried about his blood-clot issues? Fleischmann played six games in the Devils series with a broken finger. Tallon did a hell of a job putting that team together when they were so far below the salary-cap floor and every agent had his number on speed dial. Now, how does he keep defenceman Jason Garrison and his big shot? Apparently, he offered about $2.5 million a year (400 per cent raise) months back and it was rejected out of hand. I know Oilers are interested if he gets to unrestricted free-agent status on July 1. With the slim free-agent market, he can get $4 million somewhere.

When Martin Brodeur, who turns 40 May 6, was up against Jose Theodore (35) in the Devils-Panthers series it was only the third time in history two goalies 35 or over have gone head-to-head in a Game 7. The other two times were Dwayne Roloson versus Tim Thomas in the Tampa Bay-Boston battle last spring and Dominik Hasek versus Patrick Roy in 2002, according to the folks at Elias Sports Bureau. Off his playoff with the Panthers, Brodeur, who looks slimmer this year than in past seasons, looks like he can play another year.

Was there a better poster boy for what playoff hockey’s all about than the stitched and swollen face of John Madden in Game 7 in Florida? The 39-year-old centre is the ultimate warrior, on his last legs, but still a battler. He’s having nasal surgery.

This week in the NHL

Marquee Matchups

Sunday: Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov had a 0.81 goals-against average in three games against the New Jersey Devils this season. Let’s see if it continues in the second round. (1 p.m., CBC.)

Sunday: The Predators pounded Mike Smith over the last 34 minutes on Friday, outshooting Phoenix 25-7, but lost in OT in Game 1. They have to get to him in Game 2. (6 p.m., TSN)

Who’s Hot and Who’s Not

HOT: Mikkel Boedker has three goals and five points in seven Phoenix playoff games

NOT: Petr Sykora didn’t score in seven games in New Jersey’s first-round win over Florida

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